PAGE 3 | NOVEMBER 21, 2001
THE LIGHTNING PRESS
COLLEGE
Applying the
Easy Way
by Katie Ashton
CopyEditor
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
If you hate filling out and mailing in all
those paper applications, you might want to
try applying online. Almost all colleges
have this option, and for some colleges,
you don’t have to pay the application fee if
you apply online.
To apply online, just go to the college’s
website and find the link to admissions information. Most colleges will have you set up
an account with a user name and password.
Make sure you write down all your passwords! (I’ve forgotten a few of mine). The
basic information on the application like your
name and address and the sections for academic and extracurricular information can all
be filled out online. There will be counselor
and teacher recommendation forms for you
to download and print off. The essay must
also be filled out online, but you can save
unfinished applications and come back to
them later, so you should have plenty of time
to think of something to write about. When
you’re done filling out everything online, you
just have to click on the “Submit” button and
give the recommendation forms to your counselor or teacher.
Check out the online application option
for the colleges you are applying to. You
won’t have to deal with all that paper, and
you could save yourself a $40 application fee.
Also, if you plan to apply using the Common Application, that can also be filled out
online. Go to the Common Application’s
website, set up an account, print out the
supplemental forms, and start filling in the
boxes. The best thing about doing the Common Application online is that once you have
the application filled out, you can select what
colleges you want to send it to, and an online
copy will be sent to all of them.
CO L L E G E
A
L
E
N
D
A
R
SAT Dates Register
Dec. 1
Jan. 26
Mar. 16
May 4
June 1
Late Reg.
Passed
Dec.
Feb. 8
Mar. 29
April 26
Standby
Jan. 2
Feb. 20
Apr. 10
May 8
ACT Dates Register
Late Reg.
Passed
Jan. 4
Mar. 1
May 3
Standby
Jan. 18
Mar. 15
May 17
Dec. 8
Feb. 9
Apr. 6
June 8
*To register for the SAT I,
SAT II, or standby testing, visit
www.collegeboard.org
To register for the ACT, visit
www.act.org
VISITING COLLEGES
DATE HR
NDSU
MN School of Business
UND
Medical Institute of MN
Army
U of MN-Twin Cities
National Guard
Michigan Tech
Marines
11/21
11/26
11/27
12/5
12/5
12/6
12/6
12/7
12/19
3
6
2
4
5
3
4
3
5
*Get a pass from the Guidance Office to
attend any of these sessions
The WRONG Way
SeNiOrS~
by Jesse Gherke
FeatureEditor
__________________________________________________________
Once upon a time in the land of Eastview
High little Billy was finally a senior. Getting
his applications and writing his essays, he
was almost ready to turn them into the guidance office. Ooops...one more thing, he
needed teacher recommendations! See the
steps that Billy followed to get his teacher
recommendations and hopefully you can
learn from his mistakes:
-Went down to the office on Monday and
got a recommendation request form
Free Money
is Waiting
for YOU!
by Jessie Gehrke
FeatureEditor
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Need money? Cash? Something to help
you get through college??? Perhaps you
should take a look at all of the opportunities Eastview has for you. Checking out
the Guidance Office as well as searching
the Internet can be some of the greatest
assets you have when it comes to the
almighty college and money search.
Beginning in the Guidance Office you will
find the famous drawer of cash, otherwise
known as the drawer labeled “scholarships.”
Paper copies along with addresses for all
scholarships that Eastview promotes can be
found in these files. They are all updated
and kept full as soon as the new version of
that specific scholarship comes out. Along
with that you can use the handy yellow
Eastview scholarship-guide, this will help
you follow along with what scholarships can
be found.
One quick tip to assist you when reading
the yellow packet filled with so many opportunities for cash: find a highlighter. Go
through and read the criteria for every single
scholarship, and if you are applicable for it,
The New
Foundation on
the Block
by Courtney Boeff &
Natalie Brown
Lightning Reporters
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
For many years every other high
school in District 196 was associated with an
independent community foundation. Now the
Eastview community has a foundation all its
own. After years of planning, the Eastview
Community Foundation (EVCF) became a reality last March.
The Eastview Community Foundation provides leadership and addresses community
needs through the cumulative efforts of
Eastview staff members and people in the
community. It is the goal of EVCF to be an
organization that exists to build and administer funds for the long-term benefit of the
Eastview Community. The Foundation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes in the areas of academics,
arts and athletics. The Eastview Community
Foundation will lead the community, by bringing it together as it addresses the needs of
the community.
Eastview administrators Bruce Miller (Athletic Director) and Rob Franchino (Assistant
-Told Mr. Durocher and Mr. Bailey that he
needed these done by Friday, he was under a
crunch
-Stopped by everyday of the week and
dropped threatening letters on their desks
-Picked them up on Friday, complementing
them on their ability to finish a task in a week
-Marched them down to the office, dropped
them on Mrs. O’Regan’s desk with a transcript form and a dollar in pennies.
-Told Mrs. O’Reagan they are priority, they
need to be mailed today otherwise he will
miss the priority deadline.
-Breathed a sigh of relief...ahhh it’s over, Billy
walked away and went home to play video
games.
make a note of it. Make sure you mark the
deadline on your calendar, because you may
want to have it completed by then...
The next step one should pursue if trying
to get the most out of their time would be
trying out the sources available to students
on the Internet. The top three sites on the
Internet endorsed by Eastview and students
who have used them (me!) include
www.fastweb.com, www.wiredscholar.com
and www.cfsa.com. When logging on to
these sites you have to be prepared to tell
them a little about yourself. So grab some
chips, put your feet up, and get ready to fill
in at least five pages of information regarding what you’ve done with yourself in the
past four years.
Don’t worry, it will all be worth it. As soon
as the search results come back, whether they
are e-mailed to you later or immediately received, you will be very happy with the results. The first part of your scholarship search
is over, now all you have to do is sort through
them, fill them out, get recommendations, transcripts, ACT scores, and mail them...you
know, the easy stuff.
Best of luck to all of the seniors getting
started. Juniors, sophomores, and freshman- you can apply too! Check out the Guidance
Office’s guide to scholarships. The back
pages are for underclassman. Don’t forget to
ask your parents if their employers have any
scholarships, along with your church, extracurricular activities, or community activities
you are involved with in and out of school.
Money can be found anywhere and everywhere, you simply have to get the search
started.
Principal) and community member Lee Strom
are the original founders of the organization.
Today there are many community volunteers
who work behind the scenes to help make
this foundation possible. In June, the foundation received its 501(c)(3) status, making it
an independent non-profit organization. The
foundation is also governed by a board of
directors who serve without compensation.
The foundation is now able to accept community support and involvement in the form
of donations, bequests, trusts, and memorials. The Eastview community foundation will
be responsive to the needs of the community with the funds gathered and carefully
invested while being managed by the Minnesota Foundation.
This foundation isn’t just for the high
school, however. It serves a much broader
group. EVCF offers scholarships to students
and staff members and also offers grants for
other needs that may arise within the community.
For example, should the community theater group need a place for their productions,
the EVCF would like to work with another
local foundation to help them out with grant
dollars. Likewise, if the art department at
Eastview saw that a student needed more
challenging material to work with, they could
ask for some funds for that material.
To get more information on the Eastview
Foundation go to evcf.org or contact Bruce
Miller or Rob Franchino.
ONLY 120
MORE DAYS TILL
GRADUATION!
Recommendations
for your
Recommendations
by Laura Anderson
EditorialEditor
_________________________________________________
Most colleges will probably ask you to
get at least one letter of recommendation to
complete your application. Well that sounds
easy enough, but what’s the right way to do
it? Well, here are a few tips on making sure
you receive an exceptional letter of recommendation.
When asking a teacher to write you a recommendation, make sure you chose someone who knows you well. The teacher
should know more about you on a personal
level, and not just academically. They should
be able to note your quality characteristics
and personality traits outside of the classroom setting.
It’s an excellent idea to set up an appointment with the teacher to talk about when
you need the recommendation completed
(give them two weeks to a month to complete it), some activities you would like to
have included, and to discuss your accomplishments in greater detail. Make sure you
get a “Recommendation Request Form” from
the Guidance Office and fill it out completely.
This form will cover your activities, awards,
GPA, future goals, etc. and help your teacher
write a more complete letter.
To make your recommendation letter
stand out from the rest you could also answer the following questions on a piece of
paper for you teacher. The answers to these
questions will help them to personalize the
letter.
-What is your greatest fear in
life?
-What is your greatest
weakness?
-What is your best piece of
work (composition, research
paper, etc...) that you did for
the class?
-In your experience in this
class, of what piece of work
are you most proud? What
did you find most challenging?
-What is your favorite memory
of this class?
-What was your proudest
moment in this classroom?
The best people to get recommendations
from are teachers, counselors, or co-curricular
advisors. It’s okay to include those from a
coach, boss, pastor, or non-teacher, but just
make sure you meet the required number of
academic recommendations first. And don’t
include seven or eight recommendations because there is such a thing as overkill.
As a final touch be sure to send your
teacher a handwritten thank-you note when
they have completed the letter. Teachers
spend a lot of time on these letters and you
owe them a thank you to show them your
appreciation. It’s also a nice gesture to get
them a small $3-5 gift. Chocolate, any type
of food, or gift certificates for coffee will always work and your teachers will appreciate it.